Ups and Downs

What a ride these last few months have given us! My last post referred to the tightness of the funds around here...due to the "economy." But I am thrilled to report on several answers to prayer! First of all, things went better through the end of January, and our income was better than the prior two months. But then, much to our wondering eyes, a very generous gift of love from people in our church was hand delivered to us! In fact, several gifts in varying means have made their way into our hands these last few weeks. From the mysterious to the point-blank. We find ourselves, again, laughing with joy at the fullness which God has given us. And to top it off, today we did our taxes and were amazed again to see the refund we'll be getting...God's provision.

But there's more! A few weeks ago, my husband was approached about a new job in a company he highly respects. We were somewhat speechless at first...was God answering my specific prayers from Dec. 10th so quickly? In my journal, I had written specific criteria for the job we would like to see Keith in, including the hours, time off, and pay. This job offer seemed to be fulfilling all we had prayed for. Two months of specific prayer, and we were seeing God fulfill our desire for Keith to be home with us in the evenings again...something we haven't had for 5 years. And in the midst of it all, I have seen God grow my faith and joy in Him, which quite frankly, are inseperable. Faith and Joy are like the twin components of Loving God. You really can't seperate them. And seeing God work both in me these last 3 months has been an answer to prayer.

In the midst of all this wonderful provision, we found out that Keith's mom is no longer in remission with her ovarian cancer. Right now she is in the hospital battling a complication from a surgery 4 years ago. When she completes her next round of chemo, she will need surgery to fix this new complication. And yet her spirit seems settled on trusting God. I remember her telling me a few years ago after battling the cancer a while, "I just live each day at a time. That's all I can do." And I know this is God's plan for all of us. "Give us this day our daily bread..." He knows what is needed to press us to Him in each day's time. To worry over tomorrow is not trusting Him today. And it robs our joy, because we lack faith when we worry. (Remember the faith and joy twins?) "With my God I can scale a wall!" David told us. And David's God is my God too. He is unchanging. What He did for David, and Moses, and Joshua, Daniel...He can do for me.